


Fall

by cloudsNcoffee



Series: Alternate Universe- Boarding School [1]
Category: Why Don't We (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - High School, Boyband, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Misunderstandings, Multi, Music, Musicians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-25 22:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17733458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudsNcoffee/pseuds/cloudsNcoffee
Summary: Kollyn Besson is untouchable.It's a shame that's never made anyone less attractive.Or:Jack's in so much trouble.





	Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer:  
> While this was written with the public persona of the band, their families, their friends and their team in mind, the following work is fiction.  
> I don't know them, own them, or claim to have any insight into their real lives.
> 
>    
> Updating every Sunday (probably.) 
> 
> As always, unbeta-ed, please be kind.

 

Jack.

 

Ten Weeks Ago.

“I can’t believe we’re seniors.”  
“Well,” Kollyn smirks her way around the word, the corners of her mouth turned up in the way that, lately, seems to have a direct line to my pulse. “I don’t know that we are yet, technically.”  
I shake my head, grinning, “I’m pretty sure after graduation, the juniors are automatically the seniors.”  
She lifts one shoulder, still smirking, “But I don’t feel like a senior yet.”  
“Me either,” I nod, “Most days, I still feel like that dumb ninth grader with terrible hair and worse hygiene my parents left here three years ago.”  
“Thankfully for all of us,” Kollyn sasses, “You grew out of the majority of that.”  
“Brat,” I knock my sneaker into hers, and she shivers. “Cold?”  
“A little bit,” She confesses, and I reach for her, pulling her off her perch beside me on the roof and halfway into my lap.  
Kollyn sprawls across my legs, one of her shoulders digging into my chest, and I hold her there with one hand on her waist, while I run the other up and down her arm, a parody of creating friction for warmth, a ploy to feel her skin beneath my fingertips.

It wasn’t intentional, getting her alone.  
We started the night with our friends, all ten of us squeezing through a window in the girls’ dormitory and out onto the roof.  
When the others got bored (Zach) and hungry (also Zach), everyone made their way back inside. Except for me and Kollyn.  
Now we’re still sitting out here, just the two of us and the lightening bugs.

“Why are you always so hot?” Kollyn shifts to look at me, her pretty hazel eyes locked on mine.  
I think of a joke I decide not to press, and take the easy way out, “Because I didn’t grow up thinking seventy degrees is freezing.”  
“It’s not my fault there’s no snow in California,” She protests, tucking her blonde hair behind her ears.  
“Let me guess,” I grin, “It’s also not your fault that you’ve lived here for literal years and still complain for months on end that winter exists?”  
Kollyn narrows her eyes playfully, “Shut up, Jack.”  
“Make me, Kollyn,” I mock-glare back.

She swallows, and glances away briefly, before staring back at me. There’s something serious in her eyes I’m not familiar with, and when they drift away from mine I notice where my hand has settled.  
I’ve been unconsciously thumbing over her inside of her wrist.  
I very consciously wrap my hand all the way around it.  
Kollyn continues to stare, just south of my eyes.  
I’m almost positive she’s looking at my mouth, and I know I’m watching hers.  
Finally, her lips are pressed to mine.  
I don’t know which one of us moved, but the instantaneous flex of my hands pulling her closer to my body would incriminate me.  
For a minute, she just freezes, which makes me pause.  
Then, suddenly, her hands are in my hair, pulling and caressing in perfect impatience.  
I bite her bottom lip gently, dragging my teeth over it, and feeling something identical to rapture at the tiny broken noise she makes. The sound opens her mouth, and I take that as an invitation.  
She digs her nails into my scalp, on just the right side of pain, and I knew.  
I knew it would be like this between us.  
There was no chance that we would ever be anything less than explosive.  
We’re both too sharp tongued and carefully attentive for this to be different.  
It’s so good.

Kollyn is overwhelming in my lap, and I want to drown in her.

Until, “Kolly?”  
We spring apart, because exactly one of our best friends calls her that.  
My bandmate, her brother.  
“Kol?” Christina, Kollyn’s roommate, sticks her head out of the window, “What are you still doing out here? Aren’t you cold? You don’t even have a jacket on.”  
“Um,” Kollyn shifts her gaze away from me, “Not really.”  
“Good, ‘cause,” Corbyn shoves his way into the tiny space next to Christina, “We’re going to the lake.”  
“Now?” My voice cracks embarrassingly, but they don’t notice over Kollyn’s.  
“Oh, god,” She’s already conceding, “Do we really have to?”  
“I thought you said you weren’t cold, Kolly,” Corbyn taunts, and that’s all it takes.  
Kollyn straightens her shoulders, and moves towards the window, “Fine.”  
“You too, Avery,” Christina declares, pushing Corbyn backwards to give us space.  
I sigh mournfully at my jeans.  
This is not how I wanted to get out of them tonight, but there’s nothing like diving into a frigid lake to cool off a situation.

What was I thinking?

 

 

Now.

“Hey, Jack,” Corbyn careens into the doorway, stopping himself from crashing into the pile of equipment in the middle of our floor by holding onto either side of the doorframe. There’s two keyboards and more wires than I can count mixed up in there, but Corbyn doesn’t even blink at the insane computer situation my roommate, Daniel, is working on.  
I suppose that’s what living with him does to people.  
The five of us, Daniel, Corbyn, Jonah, Zach and I, spent the summer in Los Angeles, writing and recording music at Corbyn’s house instead of in our dorm rooms. We’ve been making music together since freshman year, when Zach was just our baby eighth grader, but the closer four of us get to graduation, the more real it feels that we might have a chance to make something out of this. That realization, that we could have a career in this, pushed us put a lot more work into it. I’m always thinking about it now, about lyrics and music and management, about how to turn this dream into reality.  
Currently though, I’m just wondering how everything Daniel brought back is fitting on our desks in here, and if I should’ve brought less clothes.  
Unpacking is such a hassle.  
Corbyn doesn’t have the same problem, because he shares with Jonah, and they’re both, in the nicest way possible, slobs. Undoubtably, they just tossed everything they own in the closet and called it a day.  
“Have you seen the girls yet?” Corbyn is nearly vibrating. He must’ve raided Jonah’s caffeine supply.  
“What?” My head jerks up. I’ve had months to think about this, but still have no chill, “No? Why?”  
“Dude,” He raises his hands non-threateningly, “I’m not suggesting you snuck out last night or something,” He snickers, “I was just curious. Christina,” His smile goes legitimately wistful around her name, “Wanted to know if we had extra blu-tack,” Corbyn takes a package from his pocket, “Fancy taking a walk?”  
“Ah,” There’s no easy way out of this. “Sure?” I’m in the middle of my answer when Zach appears, “Are you going to Brinley? I’m in.”  
“I’ll go too,” Jonah steps out into the hallway, tugging a cap down on his head. Daniel waves us off, trapped in his mountain of wires and equipment, where I can only assume he lives now.

 

It’s a mystery to me how Christina and Kollyn have managed to be roommates since ninth grade.  
Christina’s half of their bedroom is minimalistic, everything on her bed is white and it’s made with military precision. Her only decorations are two reserved black and white posters pinned to her wall, and three pictures placed on her perfectly organized desk, all in matching pink frames.  
Kollyn’s half, however, couldn’t be more opposite.  
Her sheets are printed with peacocks, actual whimsical birds all over them, on display because she never makes her bed. She’s got roughly six million pillows stacked against the wall, and her comforter is something I can only describe as ‘bo-ho’ because that’s what my sister called it. There’s blue tassels on it, and it’s barely clinging to the mattress, thrown on top so haphazardly it’s touching the floor. Plus, she’s already covered her wall, floor to ceiling, in a collage of magazine cover and pictures and sketches. She had to have been up all night.  
Kollyn’s side of their room always makes me think this is what the inside of her head must feel like, wildly interesting and exciting, and really fucking comfortable.  
It’s her handwriting on the blackboard hanging on their door too, calligraphy in chalk, where it’s supposed to say their names instead she’s written;  
‘Don’t read the next sentence,  
Rebel. I like you.’

I’ve been sleeping in her bed since July, staring up at the glow-in-the dark stars on ceiling of her childhood bedroom, but I still stop dead in their doorway, searching the room for her, preparing for what seeing her in person is going to do to me.  
“Oh, my, god,” Christina, slouched in Kollyn’s mountain of pillows with Darcy, who shares the room next door with Scarlett, Jonah’s best friend, screams when she sees me. “Jack!”  
“Hi, Christina, Darcy,” I manage to smile for them.  
Christina leaps off the bed to get her hands on my face, “Your hair!”  
“Yeah,” I shrug, “I got it permed.”  
“I love it,” She tilts my head around, “You’re so getting formal for this,”  
“It’s not touching my ears,” I repeat the lie I've been practicing in front of the mirror in the vain hope that I might not get in trouble for how long I’ve let my hair grow.  
“They’re still going to make you cut it off,” Christina frowns, tugging a curl down in front of my eye, then grinning, “But it’s amazing.”  
“Hey,” Corbyn gets jealous, because he’s had a crush on Christina since the day they met, even if he only admits it under extreme duress, “What about my hair?”  
Christina, whose hands are still on my face, glances over at him, “You really missed Kollyn, huh?”  
I snort. Kollyn spent the summer in New York with Christina, writing as a fashion intern and trying every bagel shop in the city. Her reviews, sent to me with pictures and sarcastic comparisons, are the closest thing to communication we’ve had in weeks.  
Corbyn gapes, “Excuse me?”  
“You dyed your hair her color.” Christina’s not wrong. His hair is now the precisely same bleachy-blonde as his twin’s. She flops back down besides Darcy, nodding to him, “It looks good, Cor.”  
He seems equally pleased and horrified by her verdict, “Uh. Thanks?”  
I elbow him, and Zach pushes past us to basically throw himself into bed, hugging the girls, “I’ve missed you.”  
“Speaking of my sister,” Corbyn looks around, “Where is she?”  
“Downstairs helping mine decorate,” Darcy looks up at the wall behind her head, and then appears rightfully worried about the state of Ava's room, “Should we check on them?”  
“She’s the one that needed more blu-tac anyway,” Christina agrees.  
“I’ll go,” Zach volunteers instantly, rubbing his palms together, “Waverly better properly appreciate me for being her knight in blu-tac armor.”  
Jonah rolls his eyes, “We haven’t finished unpacking yet and you’re already going to antagonize her?”  
“Like she hasn’t been plotting my misery all summer,” Zach smirks over his shoulder, stealing the pack out of Corbyn’s hand and taking off down the hall.  
“They’re going to kill each other someday,” Darcy shakes her head, while Christina yells after Zach, “You have to learn to play nice!”  
“Maybe we should supervise?” I suggest, not at all because I’m anxious to see Kollyn, but totally because Darcy might not be wrong.

 

There’s a girl that I don’t immediately recognize leaning against Ava's doorframe. She’s pretty, in athletic leggings that seem to lace up the sides. She tilts her head back to laugh, and that sound I do know. Jonah chokes, “Scout?”  
Scarlett, when we left for the summer, was approximately three inches shorter and had braces on her teeth.  
Now she looks like she just walked out of a Nike billboard.  
“Jonah,” Her smile for him goes all the way to her eyes. She leaps, and I’d bet every dime to my name that it’s pure chance that Jonah manages to catch her.  
They’ve known each other since kindergarten, her parents’ house is next door to his and this summer is the longest they’ve ever been apart.  
Jonah only complained about it daily.  
“Jesus Christ, Scout,” He holds her arms to look at her, “Why didn’t you tell me you got free from the orthodontist?”  
Scarlett laughs, “Surprise?”  
They just smile at each other for a solid minute, and Zach steps in to interrupt the insanely palpable, yet completely unacknowledged tension between them, “Dude. You’re in the doorway, and hogging Scarlett. I haven’t seen her yet either,” He pries them apart to hug her, “I missed you more than he did.”  
Jonah pouts, “Absolutely not,” while Scarlett just laughs again, “Me too, Z. Me too.”  
“Hey, did you guys bring more sticky stuff?” Ava is standing on top of her bed, pressing a poster to the ceiling.  
Ava is eleven months younger than Darcy, but they look so much alike they could be clones. They share the same brown hair and dark eyes, and are exactly the same height, but have dramatically different styles. Ava has a nose piercing she can only wear on the weekends, while Darcy is currently wearing white jeans and a sweater on unboxing day.

  
Kollyn is tacking the poster Ava is holding in place, her shirt riding up on her stomach and her black jean shorts are so small I nearly groan out-loud. God, I missed her. She’s wearing converse hightops standing on the mattress and that’s where my thoughts stop. I was right to be concerned about this.  
Kollyn’s potent. I thought years of living together inoculated me, but I’m starting to think maybe it’s not time but proximity that kept my knees from buckling at the sight of her everyday. One summer apart, and all my immunity is shot. I was an idiot to decide distance would make this better. This is so much worse. I lean back against the wall, and feel all the air leave my lungs.

  
“I see how it is,” Corbyn makes a face at his sister, “You didn’t even miss me. You only want us for the goods.”  
Kollyn leans back, grinning at him upside-down, “That, and your life insurance.”  
“Get down here, you imp,” Corbyn demands, and she drops the poster to jump into his arms.  
Ava follows her, and the room turns into another round of reunion hugging.  
Somehow, I end up getting Kollyn last, her arms wrapped around my neck and my hands finding her waist through their own volition. Her hair tickles my nose.  
I missed her so damn much.  
“Ah, bro,” Corbyn coughs, and I realize we’re the only ones still embracing, “You can let go of her now.”  
Kollyn laughs, still pressed against my chest, and my brain slowly comes back online.  
“Right,” I drop my hands, “Yup. Just making sure she was steady.”  
“Sure,” Corbyn nods like he believes me, then changes the subject, “So, Kolly, how’d you convince Ava of your design aesthetic?” He smirks, waving in the direction of the walls, which aren’t even close to as loud or full as Kollyn’s, but still covered, including the ceiling, in artfully placed posters and polaroids.  
“You’re just jealous because you’re boring and I told you I couldn’t help you until I finished up here,” Kollyn pokes him.  
“I didn’t say I was boring,” Corbyn protests, “I said my room was.”  
Kollyn pokes him again, digging into his side to make him flinch away and laugh.  
“So,” Ava picks up the abandoned print from her bed, “Did you bring the stuff?”  
“Well,” Zach drawls, and Ava glares, “Zach.”  
He inclines his head towards her, “Waverly.”  
“Zachary,” Her full name earns him his, and she says it like he’s already made her mad.  
“We were all out of blu-tack,” Zach tells her with a solemn face, holding the box behind his back, and none of us stop him because this is their game, “But I’ve got some ABC you might be able to use,” He blows a bubble with the gum he’s been chewing all morning, and Ava glares at him.  
She snatches the box out of his hand effortlessly, “I think I’m disappointed. You’ve tried that one before, and if you wanted to swap spit so badly, you could just ask,” She ruffles his hair condescendingly, “I’d say no, but you could ask,” She bounces back towards Kollyn the irrefutable winner of that round.  
They climb back on the bed to add that poster to the collection on the ceiling, and Darcy looks at the art encroaching on the empty side of Ava's room, “When does Naomi get in?”  
Jonah cringes at his ex-girlfriend’s name, but we all pretend not to notice.  
“This afternoon?” Ava shrugs, “Maybe? Definitely sometime after lunch.”  
Zach shakes his head, clearly amused. Ava can’t keep a schedule to save her life.  
“You’re just jealous I like my roommate,” Ava points at him, “Who’d they force you on this year?”  
Zach grins, “No one.”  
“You got a single room?” She blinks.  
“How’d you manage that?” Jonah arches an eyebrow.  
“I snore,” Zach beams.  
“No, you don’t,” I tilt my head.  
“Sure I do,” Zach just keeps grinning.  
“Dude, you don’t snore,” Corbyn narrows his eyes, “You slept in my room all summer, I think I’d know if you did.”  
“Well,” Zach drags the word out, flipping his phone then unlocking it, “According to Jamie, I do,” He presses something and an obnoxious recording of snoring plays.  
I can’t help laughing. Spending a year convincing his roommate he snores to get out of sharing a room in the future is the most Zach thing I’ve ever heard.  
“And you didn’t think to mention this sooner? I could be decorating a single room right now,” Ava fumes.  
“I thought you liked your roommate!” Zach protests.  
“Not that much, Zachary, God,” Ava shakes her head. When I look away from them, Kollyn’s watching me, sparkling ocean eyes and adorable smirk.

Her blonde hair is falling out of her messy bun, there's a piece of paper stuck behind her ear, and I am in so much trouble. 

 


End file.
